Leo Gorcey
| birth_place = New York City, United States | death_date = | death_place = Oakland, California, United States | spouse = Kay Marvis (1939-1944; divorced) Evalene Bankston (1945-1948; divorced) Amelita Ward (1949-1956; divorced; 2 children) Brandy Gorcey (1956-1962; divorced; 1 child) Mary Gannon (1968-1969; his death) | children = 3 | parents = Bernard Gorcey Josephine Condon | yearsactive = 1935–1969 | occupation = Actor | relatives = David Gorcey (brother) }} Leo Bernard Gorcey (June 3, 1917Social Security Death Index– June 2, 1969) was an American stage and movie actor who became famous for portraying the leader of the group of young hooligans known variously as the Dead End Kids, The East Side Kids, and as an adult, The Bowery Boys. Always the most pugnacious member of the gangs in which he participated, young Leo was the filmic prototype of the young punk. He was the shortest member of the original gang. Early years Gorcey was born in New York City, on June 3, 1917. The son of 16-year-old Josephine (née Condon), an Irish Catholic immigrant, and 31-year-old Bernard Gorcey, a Russian Jewish immigrant, both vaudevillian actors as well as small people. Bernard Gorcey was , and his wife was ; as an adult, Leo would reach . Film career In the 1930s, Leo's father became estranged from the family while working in theater and film. When he returned in 1935, he and Leo's brother, David, persuaded Leo to try out for a small part in the play Dead End. Having just lost his job as a plumber's apprentice and seeing his father's relative success, Leo decided to give acting a try. Leo and David were cast as two members of the East 53rd Place Gang (originally dubbed the "2nd Avenue Boys" in the play Dead End by Sidney Kingsley) with limited stage time. Charles Duncan, who was originally cast as Spit, left the play, and Leo, his understudy, was promoted. Gorcey created a quarrelsome guttersnipe whose greatest joy was in making trouble. In 1937, Samuel Goldwyn made the popular play into a movie of the same name and transported the six rowdy boys to Hollywood. Gorcey became one of the busiest actors in Hollywood for the next 20 years. *From 1937 to 1939, he starred in 7 Dead End Kids movies where he played characters with various names *From 1940 to 1945, he starred in 21 East Side Kids movies where he played the character named Ethelbert "Muggs" McInnis/McGinnis/Maloney *From 1946 to 1956, he starred in 41 Bowery Boys movies where he played the character named Terence Aloysius "Slip" Mahoney In the Bowery Boys movies, Leo's father, Bernard Gorcey, played Louie Dumbrowski, the diminutive sweetshop owner from whom the boys conned banana splits and financial loans. Leo's character "Slip" was famed for his malapropisms always delivered in a Brooklyn accent, such as "a clever seduction" for "a clever deduction", "I depreciate it!" ("I appreciate it!"), "I regurgitate" ("I reiterate"), and "optical delusion" ("optical illusion")." Also in 1944, Gorcey had a recurring role in the Pabst Blue Ribbon Town radio show, starring Groucho Marx. In 1948, Gorcey played a small role in the sophisticated movie comedy So This Is New York starring acerbic radio and television comedian Henry Morgan and featuring Arnold Stang. In 1955, after his father was killed in an automobile accident, Gorcey began abusing alcohol and lost a great deal of weight. When he trashed a movie set in an intoxicated rage, the studio refused to give him the pay raise he demanded, so he quit the Bowery Boys and was replaced in the last seven movies by Stanley Clements. Leo's brother David remained with the series until it ended in early 1958. During the 1960s, Leo did very little acting. He did appear in the epic 1963 comedy, It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World, in a bit part. Gorcey then made two final appearances on film with Huntz Hall in a pair of low budget productions: Second Fiddle To A Steel Guitar (1966) and The Phynx (1970). Life after acting In 1967, Gorcey published his autobiography, entitled An Original Dead End Kid Presents: Dead End Yells, Wedding Bells, Cockle Shells, and Dizzy Spells. In 2003, Gorcey's son Leo, Jr., published a book about his father, entitled Me and the Dead End Kid In 2017, a third book on his life, Leo Gorcey's Fractured World was published by Jim Manago and examines his use of malaprops in his Bowery Boys films. Gorcey's first cousin, twice removed, is sports writer Ryan Gorcey. Another of Gorcey's first cousins, twice removed, is actress Liz Gorcey, who is most known for her role in the 1984 film, Footloose. His image was to appear on the cover of The Beatles album Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band but he requested a fee and was painted out. Coincidentally, he died on the second anniversary of the album's US release. Personal life In May of 1939, Gorcey married 15-year-old dancer Kay Marvis (August 29, 1923-April 9, 2000), who appeared in four of his Monogram movies. They divorced in 1944, after which Kay met Groucho Marx and very soon after, became Groucho's wife. After divorcing Kay, Leo soon married actress Evalene Bankston in October 1945, but divorced a couple years later. In February 1949, Gorcey married actress and "Hedy Lamarr look-a-like" Amelita Ward, with whom he had worked in Clancy Street Boys and Smugglers' Cove. The union produced two children, including Leo Gorcey Jr., but the marriage ended in divorce in February 1956. Later that year, Gorcey married Brandy Davis, but divorced in 1962, producing a daughter Brandy Gorcey Ziesemer. By the end of Gorcey's life, he married Mary Gannon in 1968, and remained married until his death. Death Years of alcoholism eventually caught up with Gorcey. He died of liver failure on June 2, 1969, one day short of his 52nd birthday.Leo Gorcey dies; A dead end kid He is buried at Molinos Cemetery in Los Molinos, California. Filmography * Dead End (1937) as Spit * Portia on Trial (1937) as Joe Gannow * Heading' East (1937) as Boy Boxer in Gym (uncredited) * Mannequin (1937) as Clifford * The Beloved Brat (1938) as Spike Matz * Crime School (1938) as Spike * Angels with Dirty Faces (1938) as Bim * They Made Me a Criminal (1939) as Spit * Hell's Kitchen (1939) as Gyp Haller * The Angels Wash Their Faces (1939) as Leo Finnegan * On Dress Parade (1939) as Slip Duncan * Private Detective (1939) as Newsboy (uncredited) * Invisible Stripes (1939) as Jimmy * Boys of the City (1940) as Muggs McGinnis * That Gang of Mine (1940) as Muggs Malone * Hullabaloo (1940) as Apartment House Bellhop (uncredited) * Gallant Sons (1940) as "Doc" Reardon * Pride of the Bowery (1940) as Muggs McGinnis * Road to Zanzibar (1941) as Boy * Flying Wild (1941) as Muggs * Angels with Broken Wings (1941) as Punchy Dorsey * Out of the Fog (1941) as Eddie * Bowery Blitzkrieg (1941) as Muggs McGinnis * Down in San Diego (1941) as Snap Collins * Spooks Run Wild (1941) as Muggs * Born to Sing (1942) as Snap Collins * Mr. Wise Guy (1942) as Muggs McGinnis * Sunday Punch (1942) as Biff * Lets Get Tough (1942) as Muggs McGinnis * Maisie Gets Her Man (1942) as Cecil * Smart Alecks (1942) as Muggs McGinnis * 'Neath Brooklyn Bridge (1942) as Muggs McGinnis * Kid Dynamite (1943) as Muggs McGinnis * Clancy Street Boys (1943) as Muggs McGinnis * Ghosts on the Loose (1943) as Muggs McGinnis * Destroyer (1943) as Sarecky * Mr. Muggs Steps Out (1943) as Muggs McGinnis * Million Dollar Kid (1944) as Muggs McGinnis * Follow the Leader (1944) as Muggs McGinnis * Block Busters (1944) as Muggs McGinnis * Bowery Champs (1944) as Muggs McGinnis * Docks of New York (1945) as Muggs McGinnis * Mr. Muggs Rides Again (1945) as Muggs McGinnis * Midnight Manhunt (1945) as Clutch Tracy * Come Out Fighting (1945) as Muggs McGinnis * Live Wires (1946) as SlipMahoney * In Fast Company (1946) as Slip Mahoney * Bowery Bombshell (1946) as Slip Mahoney * Spook Busters (1946) as Slip Mahoney * Mr. Hex (1946) as Slip Mahoney * Hard Boiled Mahoney (1947) as Slip Mahoney * News Hounds (1947) as Slip Mahoney * Bowery Buckaroos (1947) as Slip Mahoney (AKA:"Dead-Eye" Dan McGurke) * Angel's Alley (1948) as Slip Mahoney * So This Is New York (1948) as Sid Mercer * Jinx Money (1948) as Slip Mahoney * Smuggler's Cove (1948) as Slip Mahoney * Trouble Makers (1948 as Slip Mahoney * Fighting Fools (1949) as Slip Mahoney * Hold That Baby! (1949) as Slip Mahoney * Angels in Disguise (1949) as Slip Mahoney * Master Minds (1949) as Slip Mahoney * Blonde Dynamite (1950) as Slip Mahoney * Lucky Losers (1950) as Slip Mahoney * Triple Trouble (1950) as Slip Mahoney * Blues Busters (1950) as Slip Mahoney * Bowery Battalion (1951) as Slip Mahoney * Ghost Chasers (1951) as Slip Mahoney * Let's Go Navy! (1951) as Slip Mahoney * Crazy Over Horses (1951) as Slip Mahoney * Hold That Line (1952) as Slip Mahoney * Here Come The Marines (1952) as Slip Mahoney * Feudin' Fools (1952) as Slip Mahoney * No Holds Barred (1952) as Slip Mahoney * Jalopy (1953) as Slip Mahoney * Loose in London (1953) as Slip Mahoney * Clipped Wings (1953) as Slip Mahoney * Private Eyes (1953) as Slip Mahoney * Paris Playboys (1954) as Slip Mahoney * The Bowery Boys Meet The Monsters (1954) as Slip Mahoney * Jungle Gents (1954) as Slip Mahoney * Bowery to Bagdad (1955) as Slip Mahoney * High Society (1955) as Slip Mahoney * Spy Chasers (1955) as Slip Mahoney * Jail Busters (1955) as Slip Mahoney * Dig That Uranium (1955) as Slip Mahoney * Crashing Las Vegas (1956) as Slip Mahoney * It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World (1963) as First Cab Driver * Second Fiddle to a Steel Guitar (1965) as Leo * The Phynx (1970) as Himself (final film role) References External links * * * Category:1917 births Category:1969 deaths Category:American male film actors Category:American people of Irish descent Category:20th-century American male actors Category:American people of Russian-Jewish descent Category:Jewish American male actors Category:Deaths from liver disease